EMMERDALE star Samantha Giles has spoken about her struggle with lockdown after quitting the soap.
The actress quit her role as Bernice Blackstock last year and took a well-earned rest after filming her final scenes in November.
However her plans to take on new acting challenges were thrown into chaos by the pandemic and she was left struggling.
The star isolated with her husband and daughters Eve, 12 and Olivia, eight.
She told the Mirror: “Initially I thought I was going to kill my husband!
“He was rearranging things in the kitchen and being annoying. Plus I need people around me.
“I’ve had some very difficult weeks to be honest. When lockdown started I just wanted to get into bed and not get out.”
The actress also spoke about struggling in the aftermath of leaving the soap.
Samantha added: “I felt very low when I first left. I’d gone from seeing people every day and being so busy to nothing. But I had to go through it.
“I knew it would be so easy to stay there forever as it was a great job, but I wanted to try and do something different with my life.
“I’m turning 50 next year and I knew I’d regret it if I never gave something else a go.”
Samantha ended up writing a children’s book Rosemary and the Witches of Pendle Hill.
The book is released August 6.
